Kabul truck-bomb toll rises to more than 150 people killed — the deadliest attack since 2001

Afghan
protesters set a fire during a protest in Kabul, Afghanistan June
2, 2017.REUTERS/Mohammad
Ismail

KABUL (Reuters) - The death toll from a truck-bomb explosion in
Kabul last week has reached more than 150 people, President
Ashraf Ghani said on Tuesday, making it the deadliest attack in
the Afghan capital since the ouster of the Taliban
in 2001.

The blast occurred when a sewage truck packed with what Ghani
called "military-grade" explosives detonated at the entrance to a
fortified area of that city that includes foreign embassies and
government buildings.

"We were not the only targets, the entire diplomatic community
was the target of this attack," Ghani told foreign diplomats
gathered for a conference in Kabul.

Previous official estimates had put the death toll at about 90,
with more than 460 wounded.

All of those killed were Afghans, and Ghani paid
specific homage to 13 policemen who stopped the truck as it tried
to enter the fortified district and were killed in the blast.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which sparked
violent anti-government protests.

Several protesters were killed in clashes with police on Friday,
and at least a dozen people were killed when suicide bombers
attacked the funeral for one of the dead protesters on Saturday.